Koby Drake's face lights up right away when Keonde Henry's name gets brought up.

Henry is the highest-rated recruit in Memphis football's 2024 recruiting class, a four-star receiver from Lake Dallas, Texas. Drake, a senior for the Tigers, hosted Henry on his visit last year.

"I feel like I had a sway in him coming here," Drake said. "It's super cool."

Drake is part of a Memphis receiver room that's primed to be the best collection of talent fourth-year starting quarterback Seth Henigan has had around him during his time in Memphis. Leading receiver Roc Taylor is back and is probably the best returning receiver in the AAC, while Demeer Blankumsee was the Tigers' second leading receiver in 2023 and is also back in the fold.

It's a room that has Memphis primed to compete for an AAC title and maybe a spot in the College Football Playoff in 2024, but it's also helping set the program up for the future. Henry signed with Memphis partly because he wanted to learn from Taylor, Drake and Blankumsee and partly because they're all seniors and will likely be gone in 2025 (Blankumsee could have one more season of eligibility). And while they'll depart sooner rather than later, their fingerprints are likely to be around the program for years to come.

Henry has never even met Taylor, but he still chose Memphis so he could play with and learn from him.

"I appreciate that," Taylor said. "That means a lot to me, because they know I put in the hard work and they see the hard work I put in. And someone wants to be like me, that makes me feel good."

Taylor had a breakout 2023 season, catching 69 passes for 1,083 yards and four touchdowns just a year after he'd totaled only 225 yards. His 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame makes him a legitimate threat at multiple levels across the field.

He was named second-team All-AAC in 2023. Every other receiver selected to an All-AAC team besides South Florida's Sean Atkins will be gone in 2024, either to another team or to the NFL Draft.

Blankumsee transferred from Toledo before the 2023 season and played a key role in the slot, with expectations that he'll be able to do even more this season. And Drake proved to be a reliable third-down target for Henigan while also serving as the punt returner.

There's also depth behind them, not just in the form of Henry, who will enroll in the summer. Houston transfer Ja'Kobi Banks told Blankumsee he chose Memphis because of the room they'd already built.

"That feels great," Blankumsee said. "Obviously you want to catch the eye of NFL scouts, you want to catch the eye of the media, but knowing that other college players or even high school players see what you're doing and want to be a part of it, that makes you feel a lot better."

Auburn transfer Jyaire Shorter "can absolutely fly," strength coach Noah Franklin said. Redshirt freshman Tyson Edwards follows Taylor everywhere he goes, according to receivers coach Larry Smith. Freshman Brady Kluse told Taylor he committed to Memphis because of what he'd seen Taylor do, too.

So it's a wide receivers room that doesn't have question marks heading into this season. And maybe not for the future, either.

"I think it's a big confidence boost to the entire program, not having questions," Drake said. "We've performed, we've done this. I think our coaches are going to have confidence in us, we're going to have confidence in each other, we're going to have confidence in Seth, Seth's going to have confidence in us. And you know what you're going to get out of us."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis receiver room can carry the Tigers in 2024 — and beyond